Trace.



B. JAKEWAY.

TRACE.

APPLICATION FILED 001. 2B, l9l6.

Patented June 26, 1917.

61am mu;

1 ion.

BERNARD JAKEWAY, OF HARRISON, MICHIGAN.

TRACE.

Application filed October 28, 1916.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, BERNARD JAKEWAY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Harrison, in the county ofClare and State of 5 Michigan, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Traces, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to harness and par- 0 ticularly to the tracesthereof. The general object of my invention is to form a harness tracewhich shall be light, strong and com fortable to the draft animal.

A further object is as far as possible to do 5 away with the use ofleather or a combina tion of leather and iron and form the trace ofmetal alone.

A further object is to provide a trace so connected to the hame that itcannot become 0 accidentally unhooked and so construct the eye whichconnects the trace to the hipstrap that there will be no danger of thetail of the horse being caught in it.

Other objects will appear in the course of 5 the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure1 is a perspective View of a trace constructed in accordance with myinveno tion Fig. 2 is an elevation of the rear end of the trace showingthe manner in which the slack of the chain may be taken up.

In the accompanying drawings, desig- 5 uatos a hame of any ordinary orusual construction and having the U-shaped eye 11. The trace propercomprises the longitudinally extending slightly curved metal rod 12, thering 13, the straight metal rod 14 and 3 the chain section 15. The rod12 at its forward end is bent to form a hook 16 to engage with theU-bolt 11 and this hook is so formed that it can only be removed fromits engagement with the U-bolt 11 by turning the trace at P right anglesto its normal position and shifting it laterally. This prevents anyaccidental unhooking of thetrace from the hame which is a source ofconstant annoyance in other forms of traces known to me. The rear end ofthe rod 12 is formed with an eye 17 which has loose engagement with thering 13, and the rod 14 at its forward end is formed with an eye 18which also has loose engagement with the ring 18. The belly 5 band 19engages with the ring 13 as does the buck band 20. The ring 13 being atrue Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 26, 191?. Serial No. 128,278.

circle has no square corners for the straps 19 and 20 to work into.Where the connecting member 13 is rectangular the straps are very liableto work into the corners or against the corners and to be cut off. Bymaking the member 13 a true circle, the straps 19 and 20 work smoothlyupon the ring and without the wear to which they are. ordinarilysubjected.

The rod 14 at its rear end is formed with an elongated eye 21 by bendingthe rod laterally and then extending the rod parallel to the rod 14 andthen bending the extremity of this rebent portion inward against the rod14 and welding it thereto at 22. The elongated eye provides for theconnection of the hip strap 23 and permits the hip strap to work backand forth. If this strap were not permitted to work back and forth as described, the strap would chafe the horse. The length of chain 15 has itsend link connected to the eye 21 and the rear link of the chain which islarger than the other links, or any of the links thereof may beconnected to the trace hooks 24 of the swingletree 25. In Fig. 2, I showa manner in which a slack of the chain may be taken up without leaving alarge portion of the chain to hang loose. The rod 12 it will be seen isslightly curved outward so that it will not rub the shoulders of thehorse. I have found by experience that where a trace is constructed ofsmooth round iron there is much less friction against the flanks of thehorse than where leather, rope, or cable and chain are used. My improved trace is smooth and does not chafe and is as flexible as it isrequired to be. It cannot accidentally unhook from the hame, will notwear the belly band and the back band and permits the movement of thehip strap as stated.

The hook 16 has its bill extending parallel to the shank of the hook,which shank extends at an angle to the rod 12 as shown clearly inFig. 1. The curve or angle of this shank relative to the rod 12 keepsthe hook from pushing ahead as this angular portion comes against theU-bolt. The hame and trace have to be turned relatively half way aroundor the trace pulled out straight sidewise before the hook can bedisengaged from the hame.

Havingdescribed my invention, what I claim is:

A trace con'iprising a rod constructed to swingingly engage a hamestaple, the rod being curved outwardly away from the hame 1007p saidloop being adapted to be slidably and formed at its rear end with aneye, a engaged by a hip strap. 1 ring passing looselythrough the eye,and a In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my rod section having an eyeat its forward end signature in the presence of two witnesses. looselyengaged with said ring, said ring BERNARD JAKEWAY. serving asta means ofattachment for a back Witnesses:

band and a belly band, the rear end of the FRED F. COSGROVE,

rod section being formed with'an elongated F. WEATHERHIEAD.

Copies 0'1 this patent may "be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 11:0.

